Question
 

For some reason..it's cheaper to fly from grand rapids,mi to san francisco than from dtw. So I found flights that leave from GRR and make a stop in DTW. and when returning they depart from SFO and make a stop in DTW before going to GRR. (why is it cheaper? I'll never know). Anyway...would it create a problem if I completely skipped the GRR flight and hopped on right from DTW? Probably a stupid question...but I never know the rules :) Thanks!

If you miss the first flight (i.e. GRR-DTW) then they'll cancel the rest of your ticket and you'll be out of luck.

On the way back you could skip the DTW-GRR segment, but this is technically against the rules and you could get in trouble if they catch you doing it.

The reason it's cheaper to fly GRR-SFO instead of DTW-SFO is because people are willing to pay more to fly the latter route than the former.

I find this strange that DTW-SFO is more expensive than GRR-SFO. Both the DTW-SFO and DTW-LAX and return are usually cheaper due to the competition with Spirit. If the flight time is not in competition with the Spirit schedule, then it might be different.
I have flown on what I consider low fare for DTW-SFO leaving at 3:39 pm and returning on the red-eye at 10 pm.

HJ

:td: sucks...doesn't seem much fair to me but thanks anyway. I may end up now paying an extra 150 bucks....i guess i'll wait and hopefully some travel deals come out...i'm planning on flying out in mid-august.

I'm getting 359 for the fare for dtw to sfo. 239 is the fare from grr. I found it odd as well...especially since they are making the stop in dtw on both segments. I'm saving them fuel :P

Happens at several hub airports.

In Cincinnati, it is ususally cheaper to fly out of Dayton, Lexington, Indianapolis, Louisville, etc. Connecting through CVG, of course, if one is on DL.

I too find it counter-intuitive that flying on four planes is cheaper than flying on two. Apparently it all has to do with the hub pricing model. There's an old thread in the AA forum that explains it quite well but I can't seem to locate that thread. If/when I do, I'll post the link.

The price of a seat has next to nothing to do with the actual operating costs for that flight. It is all marketing and competition.

If you want to get from GRR to SFO, you probably have zero options for a direct flight. That means lots of competition since pretty much any carrier that serves GRR can get you there with one stop. From DTW, your only direct option to SFO looks like NW and one Spirit flight. Less competition for a better product (non-stop) = higher price.

Assume that to and from the hub fills 90% of the seats. Airline wants to keep that premium price but fill last few seats so it offers lower cost seats for people who fly from nearby airports. because the marginal price of flying these people is low, it adds to the bottom line while protecting hub prices.

I am flying LAX-YVR-China/China-YVR-LAX in business class for $2000!!!! less that the YVR-China/China-YVR flight. Go figure.